Premier League Saturday, Gameweek 1: Open Thread

Whether you call it soccer or football, the season starts today with 7 Premier League matches in store on this glorious Saturday.

There’s no early kick-off, so we have 6 matches kicking off at the traditional time of 10am ET/3pm BST, followed by the match of the day between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at 12:30pm ET/5:30pm BST (on FOX Soccer). Joyous is probably the most apt word to describe my emotions, and hopefully yours.

The opening day of the Premier League season is often a strange one. On the opening day of the season last year, QPR lost 4-0 at home against Bolton Wanderers. But it was the Trotters who were eventually relegated at the end of the season. And who can’t forget Wolverhampton Wanderers’ fine start to the Premier League season last year? And they too ended up getting relegated. So while the results on the opening day of the season are important, I wouldn’t read too much into them quite yet.

Some of the things I’m looking forward to watching today: To see how Arsenal’s attacking threat looks like without Robin van Persie, how Liverpool will play their football against former LFC assistant Steve Clarke who is now manager at West Brom, how Michu will do in his Swansea competitive debut, whether Pavel Pogrebnyak can get a goal for Reading against Stoke, how Big Sam’s men will do against Paul Lambert’s new-look Villa, and what Fulham will look like sans Clint Dempsey. Newcastle against Spurs is the one that I’m really the most excited about, though.

Before, during and after today’s matches, post your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section.

About Christopher Harris

Founder and publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris is the managing editor of the site. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who has lived in Florida since 1984, has supported Swansea City since 1979. He's also an expert on soccer in South Florida, and got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.
Harris launched EPL Talk in 2005, which was rebranded as World Soccer Talk in 2013.
View all posts by Christopher Harris →

While FOX Soccer’s approach is talking heads, ESPN goes for feet-on-the-street with the combo of Ian Darke and Steve McManaman at the stadium. Having a presence at the ground will always win, in my opinion — makes it more relevant, and makes it more real.

Real nice young player but I hate to see the Swans take another big loss. I think some of the glut up front (Roque, Adebayor, maybe Dzeko) may be on the way out imminently so I can see why City would want him.

I heard Tottenham for Sinclair but it seems as if all the big UK outlets are linking him strongly to City now.

He has a right to go and make more money or go and play Champions League football or whatever he wants to do. He has said nothing bad about Fulham. He hasn’t said he won’t honor his contract. He’s just sitting out in the hopes of moving on to another club for more pay or better play. That’s football. That’s the business. He’s done plenty for Fulham and no idiot fans can take that away, ever.

Get a clue about how things go in this business man. Anyone with hurt feelings about this is someone made up of a weak constitution.

It is way too early to tell anything about where teams will fair this season, but it is good to see who’s head is in the game and focused. A team. Winning 5 or4 nothing is a great start but doesn’t mean they will stay up. Just a great start and great viewing.

Best thing I can say for Aston Villa is that their away kits look nowhere near as hideous on the field as they did in the leaked images. Good job Hammers! And great job for Swans, FFC, and the Baggies!

Hey for you SPL fans out there (or just even football fans in general) that are up early in the US, check out Dundee-Dundee United tomorrow live in the AM on Fox Soccer 2Go.

Despite all of Arsenal’s struggles and bad press right now, Wenger has weathered storms before and got the best out of his squads. I still feel they are still very capable of finishing third and competing for the FA Cup.

I really don think Newcastle was the better team today. Tottenham played a hell of a game, especially in the first half. Newcastle had the one excellent shot and was able to take advantage of the rare defensive mistake that the Spurs had in this game.

Tottenham had more quality chances at goal, they just need to sort out the striker situation. I don’t think Defoe needs to be replaced, just someone to complement him.

All-in-all, Newcastle earned the win today, but it because they outplayed the Spurs.

Tough loss, poor defending for the penalty, Benny was awful, jan will replace, gallas to old, caulker will replace.

Disappointed, but last season we lost the first 2 and played worse in those games, the sooner modric goes the better. Spend the cash on striker. If we had taken those chances in the first half would have made a difference. Second half Bale was quiet and under utilized.

I enjoyed FOX Soccer’s pre-match, half-time and post-match discussion and analysis very much. I thought the addition of Mario Melchiot is a great move by them. Eric Wynalda could be replaced for a better person but he isn’t that bad. I think the breakdown of the game and todays news was good also. Just wish they could show all the major highlights that happened during the games instead of just one goal etc.

The day belongs to Swansea for winning big away. They definitely bought wisely. They could end up in the top half this season.

Worst possible start for Liverpool and little has changed even with a new manager. Rodgers is Kenny II with his ridiculous post-match comments. What is it about Liverpool managers and not being able to say truthfully that their team was awful instead of saying they controlled the game and poor decisions cost them. Liverpool are now truly a midtable team, not that they weren’t the last couple of seasons, and their new players aren’t any better than the ones already there. Long season for them.

Fulham deserve praise for the way they went about their business at home. Terrific start to the season.

Newcastle continued their rise to the top and showed that last season was no fluke.

Spurs weren’t bad and losing away to a team that will be competing with them in the league shouldn’t be that worrying. If they can use the money from the Modric sales wisely they will be fine.

I disagree with your comments on Rodgers. He has every right to complain. Phil Dowd was shocking. Agger barely touched Long, who flung himself to the ground. The penalty on Skrtel should definitely not have been given. He was playing the ball and Long stepped in front of him as he was kicking at the ball. Clever by Long, but I don’t think the right call. It’s a bad loss for them for sure, but I also think that Liverpool will get much better as the season goes on and the players adapt to Rodgers. Gerrard was terrible today, though.

I wouldn’t make any conclusions about teams based on today. It’s a long season.

Whole heartedly agree. Gera’s goal was an absolute cracker. Then both penalties were flat out wretched. Agger’s “shove” was debatably even in the Area for one, and not to mention Long could’ve easily gotten booked for his exceptional acting job.

Skrtel’s was straight silly. He didn’t play well (he fell on the first penalty to Long) but I can’t blame him for the second penalty.

Lucas needs to get back to fitness still. Suarez needs to finish. This team still needs a poacher or someone like Dempsey/Sahin. I’m not worried, but today still wasn’t encouraging.